Critical Analysis: Change Tools in Manufacturing and Service Sectors

This essay critically evaluates the usefulness of two change tools—the Socio-Technical System approach and the Organization Development School—in both manufacturing and service industries, excluding Lewin's Classical Model. The Socio-Technical System emphasizes the interaction between employees and technology, advocating for joint optimization to enhance productivity and employee well-being. The Organization Development School focuses on improving organizational effectiveness through culture, strategy, and climate. The essay details the characteristics of manufacturing and service industries, highlighting their similarities in customer focus and partnerships, but differing in tangible versus intangible outputs. It argues that while the Socio-Technical System is used in manufacturing to balance employee welfare and technical efficiency, both approaches are applicable in the service industry to improve service delivery and organizational structure. The essay concludes by noting the advantages and disadvantages of each approach in different contexts, emphasizing the importance of tailored strategies for organizational change and development. Desklib offers a platform for students to explore more solved assignments and study resources.

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Organization change and development
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Organizational Change
Introduction
Organizational change refers to the processes or even levels that organization undergoes
in their stages of development and change. Each and every organization experiences different
stages of development due to different factors like organizational culture, goals, objectives,
priorities among others. Irrespective of these dissimilar stages, organization share common
development approaches that bring about change within an organization. These approaches
include Social-Technical System approach and the Organization Development School. Socio-
Technical System approach holds that, for any organizational change to be realized, the system
of the organization must embrace innovation, flexibility, consultation and also been open-
minded. It is the combination of both the social and the technical tools within an organization.
On the other hand, the Organization Development School explains how change is achieved
through organizational culture, management, policies, and strategies1. This essay explains that
these two change tools are of importance with only Socio-Technical System approach been used
in manufacturing company and Service Industry using the two change tools which include
Organization Development School and Socio-technical approach. The essay will cover the
change tools stated above, their applicability and usefulness to Manufacturing and Service
Company and also explain the characteristics of Manufacturing and Service companies.
Socio-Technical System
1 Michael Beer, "Organization change and development." (Annual review of psychology
38, no. 1 2018), 340.

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This is one of the approaches that use the interaction of people or even employees and
technology in the place of work. This change tool came as a result of the social aspect of
individuals and also the technical aspect of a company or even society. Social aspect here means
people or even employees within a workplace. They interact, share and work together to achieve
organizational or social goals2. Additionally, the technical aspect is not a technological
perspective alone but it also includes procedures, bureaucracies, and other related company
knowledge. This approach aims at achieving joint optimization between the two aspects. It
ensures that there are tremendous technical performance and good motivational lives for the
employees in the workplace. This system holds that there must be a good relationship between
the social and the technical elements which results in the development and change of an
organization due to increased productivity and wellbeing of the workers. If the two aspects are
not working in unison, conflicts start resulting in organizational failure.
Organization Development School
This change tool emphasis on effectiveness and efficiency of an organization. It helps the
organization to improve in terms of policies, leadership, and job description and even power and
control. This tool holds that organization development can be done by either the management or
external consultants that work for the achievement of the organization goals and objectives.
Organization development tool has three main section3. They include organizational culture,
2 Steven H Appelbaum, "Socio-technical systems theory: an intervention strategy for
organizational development." (Management decision 35, no. 6 2016), 453
3 Edgar Huse, Organization development and change. (West Publishing Company, 2016)

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strategy, and climate. Organization culture explains norms, conducts, and values that employees
have within an organization. Companies have different cultures and can be changed over time if
it is affecting the operations of the organization. Organization climate refers to the general
personality of an organization as a result beliefs and the attitude of the employees working in that
company.
This climate affects the productivity of the organization due to the motivation and
satisfaction of the employees. It is the role of the management to cultivate effective climate
within an organization to ensure that there are organization development and change.
Organization strategy involves strategies that encourage change like an establishment of a
problem, the cause of the problem, planning, intervention, and evaluation of the realized
problem. These strategies differ from one organization to another and therefore, each company
ought to embrace strategies that promote organizational change and development. For the
development of an organization, management should create a conducive environment for the
development of the organization culture, strategy and climate.
Manufacturing and Service Industries.
Manufacturing industries are the companies which engage in processing or manufacturing
of new products or even in adding of value to the existing ones. They either produce finished
products or products to be used in the processing of more finished products. This industry can
after the Britain revolution as a result of industrial and social economic changes4. In most of the
developed countries, the manufacturing industry offers employment to most of the people thus
boosting the economy of the State. It is characterized by high level of efficiency in its production
4 Daniel Böckin,. "What makes solutions within the manufacturing industry resource
efficient?" (in EcoBalance Conference 2016) 342

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due to use of technology, automation of equipment and people which has led to the reduction of
wastage of resources, the customer owns the product after purchase and aims at mass
production5. Service industry, on the other hand, is the kind of industry that specializes in the
provision of services to the people like Banking, transportation among others. It is characterized
by the intangibility of the service be provided, inseparability which means that the person
offering the service, the service been offered and the person receiving the service cannot be
separated. Also, in this industry, customers demand different types of services thus making it
challenging for the service industry6.
Manufacturing and service industries are similar because of the following reasons, both focus
of on the customer satisfaction. This is because customers are the key drivers of any industry and
therefore, their satisfaction leads to company growth and development. Additionally, they
characterized by different partners who work together for the success of the company. They
include customers, employees, government among others. Despite being similar, these industries
are also different in terms of production7. Manufacturing industry produces tangible goods and
products while on the other hand, Service industry offers intangible services. In the
5 Su Hui Chan, "The Impact of Perceived Organizational Support, Job Satisfaction,
Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) and Work-Life Balance on Employee's Turnover Intention in
Manufacturing Industry, Malaysia." (PhD diss. UTAR 2016) 93
6 Marcel Bouman, "Measuring service quality in the car service industry: building and
testing an instrument." (International Journal of Service Industry Management 3, no. 4 2016), 11
7 Oya Culpan, "Attitudes of end-users towards information technology in manufacturing
and service industries." (Information & management 28, no. 3 2017), 171.

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manufacturing industry, the buyers own the product while Service industry, on the other hand, do
not own the service after buying that is there is no ownership.
Application of Socio-Technical Approach in the manufacturing industry
According to Socio-technical approach is used by the manufacturing industry to manage its
operations. This is because it comprises both the employee and technical aspects. This change
tool ensures that effective motivation and conducive environment for the employees is
maintained within an organization which promotes industry development and change8.
Moreover, this change tool ensures that the technical aspects in an organization are effectively
maintained and that they are efficiently working. This is a change tool applied when ensuring
that there is a balance between the employees and the technical part because they need to work
together for the development of an organization. This change tool is advantageous to the
manufacturing industry due to the following; joint optimization between the customer and the
technical aspect, helps the manufacturing company to be more customer-focused because for
long their main focus has been organization and its production but with the introduction of socio-
technical tool, focus has shifted to include the employee wellbeing and motivation9. Contrary,
this change tool overlooks other contributing factors that result to organization development like
organization culture, strategies and climate which are key for the development of any industry.
Application of Socio-Technical Approach in the service industry
8 Thomas Cummings, Organization development and change. (Cengage learning, 2018),
19.
9 Edwin Olson, "Facilitating organization change." (Lessons from 2016).

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Service industry as indicated earlier deals with the provision of services like banking,
transport among others. In the provision of these services, this industry sometimes uses technical
aspects like technology for effective and efficient provision of those services. In this scenarios,
this change tool is applied for joint optimization of both the employees and the technical aspect
because all need to be taken care of for effective and efficient service provision10. This change
tool asserts an employee's wellbeing should be taken care of like motivations, good working
conditions among others. The technical aspect on the other side should be up to date and
effectively serving the customers to their satisfaction11. For example, the banking industry has
introduced online banking services which have made provision of services easy and faster. This
change tool has helped the service industry to harmonize between the social and technical aspect
within the industry in order to provide quality services to the customers. This tool is
disadvantageous to the service industry because it might discourage some employees from
working. It emphasizes teamwork thus making some employee not to show their full potential
hence making them feel frustrated. This tool is advantageous because it emphasizes on
specialization and division of labor whereby employees are assigned duties as per their
competencies which improves service delivery.
Application of organization development school in the manufacturing industry
Manufacturing industry deals with the production of tangible products to the customer. In
this industry, both the employees and the technical side work in collaboration in order to provide
10 Peter Daniels, Service industries: a geographical appraisal, (Routledge, 2017).
11 Eric Molleman, "Sociotechnical systems: towards an organizational learning approach."
(Journal of Engineering and Technology Management 18, no. 4 2018), 284

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quality and quantity products to the customers. Organization development school as one of the
change tool is applicable to this industry because it aims at ensuring quality products are offered
to the customers which are brought about by good internal systems and structures within an
organization. This tool holds that there must be performing culture, norms, strategies, attitude
within an organization so as to achieve good results12. Manufacturing industry uses this change
tool to ensure that performing culture, norms, and attitude is established in order to improve the
industry output and production due to motivated employees and good working conditions. This
change tool has shortcoming because it emphasizes the social and organizational aspect and tries
to neglect the technical aspect which is a key element in a manufacturing industry13. it is
advantageous because it emphasizes on the creation of effective and performing environment
like good culture, strategies, working conditions among others affects production in a company14.
Application of organization development school in the Service industry
Service industries deal with the provision of services to the customers. These services include
transport, banking, and communication among others. Organization development school as a
change tool is applied in this industry because it deals with the company in general and the
environment that employees work in. In the service industry, the motivation of the employees is
12 Scott Poole, Handbook of organizational change and innovation. (Oxford University
Press, 2017).
13 Rachel Yee, "The impact of employee satisfaction on quality and profitability in high-
contact service industries." (Journal of operations management 26, no. 5 2018), 697.
14 Sandra Vandermerwe, "The internationalisation of services." (The Service Industries
Journal 9, no. 1, 2017), 87

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paramount because it determines the quality and quantity of services to be offered to customers.
Employees working under good conditions, and performing culture, norms, attitude, and
strategies tend to show their full potential and offer the best to the customer thus improving and
developing the organization15. All this is emphasized in the organization development school and
applicable in the Service industry16. This change tool stresses more on organization structures
and process which affects service delivery. It holds that organization should be effective and
efficient in its operations by embracing structures that are beneficial to both the organization and
the customers. In this industry, their main focus is on improving the internal structures to suit
customer's demand and interests. This tool has some shortcomings like. For example, neglects
the technical aspect of an industry which to great extent helps in improving efficiency in service
delivery. It is an advantageous change tool because it emphasizes much on the internal
structuring of a company which is the key determinant in the service industry.
Conclusion
In conclusion, therefore, organization change is brought by the kind of change tool embraced
by an organization. The two change tools discussed above determines the development of an
industry. The Socio-technical approach, as one of the tool, emphasizes on taking care of the
wellbeing of the employees within an organization because they determine the kind of the
products or services to be offered to the customers. Also, it states that the technical aspects of an
industry should be improved. Technical aspects here include both the technological and the
15 S. Amrik Sohal, "Comparing IT success in manufacturing and service industries."
(International Journal of Operations & Production Management 21, no. 1/2, 2017), 39.
16 Hajo Reijers, Design and control of workflow processes: business process management
for the service industry, (Springer-Verlag, 2015), 207

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structures of an organization. This tool has several advantages like it brings about efficiency
since it emphasizes on technical aspects alongside social aspect. On the other side, this tool fails
to recognize the other aspects that are also key to the development of an organization like
culture, strategies among others. Organizational development school is the other tool that brings
about organizational change. This tool emphasizes organizational culture, strategy, and climate.
It is one of the best tool used in the service industry because it stresses on both internal and
external aspects of an organization. Between the two change tools, the socio-technical approach
is the only tool used in the manufacturing industry because it emphasizes more on a technical
aspect of an organization. Service industries use both the organization development and socio-
technical system tool because it involves technical, social, culture, strategy, and climate.
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